Word Origin & History

bingo 1936, as a lotto-like game of chance; many theories about its origin, none satisfying; the most likely is bingo! as an exclamation of sudden realization or surprise (attested from 1927). Uncertain connection to the slang word for "brandy" (1690s); attested as "liquor" in Amer.Eng., 1861. Thomas Chandler Haliburton ("Sam Slick") in "The Americans at Home" (1854) recounts a story of a drinking game in which the children's song about the farmer's dog was sung and when it came time to spell out the name, every participant had to take a letter in turn, and anyone who missed or flubbed had to drink.